By Rodney Earl Walton, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. This well-researched and well-written book analyzed the role of forward artillery observers on Okinawa during the largest artillery battle in World War II’s Pacific Theater. Likely inspired by his father’s role as a forward observer for the 361st Field

By Rodger Sarty; Allen Lane-Penguin Group, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2012) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki This book is the eighth installment to “The History of Canada” series. The War in the St. Lawrence is for the most part either forgotten or a printed glitch in the grander “Battle of the Atlantic.” The “Battle in the

By John T. Pigott, (2006) Reviewed by Rear Admiral Peter B. Booth, U.S. Navy (Retired) The whaleboat was deep in the water, grossly overloaded with sailors hauled from the ocean. I grabbed the oil-soaked life jacket of the sailor who would have brought our total to thirty-five, and had started to heave him aboard when

By Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green, eds., Havertown, PA, Casemate (2012). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors have assembled an anthology of 46 oral histories of variable lengths that focus on stories of men as well as old S- and newer fleet-type boats that fought against the Japanese during World War II in

By Peter F. Stevens, Regnery History, Washington, DC, (2012). Reviewed by Greg Stitz USS Grunion (SS 216) was already under construction when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrust America into World War II. Her keel had been laid at the Electric Boat Company shipyard in Groton, CT on 1 March 1941. Christened and launched

By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the eleventh in a series of blogs by Norman Polmar, author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Edward Teller, the “father” of the hydrogen bomb. Teller believed strongly that the United

By Patrick Bishop, Regnery History, Washington, DC, (2013) Reviewed by Stephen Phillips The very presence of a capital ship can often create strategic importance. Today, aircraft carriers exert this influence, but prior to the Second World War, it was battleships that were known by name that caused concern or even fear. The Hunt for Hitler’s

By Mark Stille, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom (2013) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D., Missouri University of Science and Technology As with other Osprey publications, this volume packs a lot of information into a small space and completes its discussion of Japanese destroyers with excellent illustrations by Paul Wright and photographs from the collections

By Stephen Budiansky. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, (2013) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA. September 1, 2013 will mark the 74th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the start of World War II. Just two percent of the U.S. population is old enough to remember the war’s early years, so most Americans know

By David Rigby, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD: (2012). Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, Ph.D. Though the historiography of the Second World War is vast, it is remarkable how few works have examined the actual higher direction of war as practiced by the Anglo-American alliance. That partnership at a political level is reflected in the close

By John R. Satterfield, Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, MD (2011) Reviewed by Commander Paul W. Murphey, CHC, USNR (Ret.) Appearance wise, Saving Big Ben is an impressive book. Beautifully bound with an appealing jacket, featuring a pleasant type and format, and having enticing blurbs on the back cover, the book brings a sense of anticipation

Last night, the 71st Annual Battle of Midway Commemorative Dinner was held at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. Looking back from a vantage point of 71 years, Midway is viewed as one of the more significant actions in world history – more significant than simply a strategic victory as part of a

By Brayton Harris, Palgrave Macmillan: New York, (2012) Reviewed by Captain Scott Mobley, U.S. Navy (Retired) Brayton Harris begins his narrative by pledging to give the reader a “guided tour” of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s life. Harris delivers on this promise, tracing Nimitz’s rise from a small-town Texas boyhood to the apex of naval

By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of blogs by Norman Polmar, author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) One of the most interesting, intelligent, and professional persons whom I have had the privilege of knowing was Captain Donald Macintyre,

By Kenneth E. Bingham., Seabee Books, Binghamus Press, (2011). Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart The author has divided this book into six sections. Over half of the book is a reprint of Construction Battalion Detachment 1058’s cruise book covering its tour of duty at Barrow, Alaska, during 1944-1945. The author provides a 5-page introduction into

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By David Cannadine, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (2017) Reviewed by John Grady This to-the-point, short biography of Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom’s longest-serving prime minister, provides some interesting political parallels to today’s United States — the rise of populism to give voice to those left behind, cries to scale back government, demands to unleash Read more →